Long Gone and A Tad Forgotten
by ShinytheUnicorn
Summary: A Hunter returns after a long absence and people have trouble remembering them. A multi-perspective experience.
1. Banshee-44

_I do not own any part of Destiny all rights belong to Bungie and other developers. I know there are some problems with this chapter but I feel like I need to put it up now otherwise it won't ever go up. If you have any comments or if there is a mistake I missed please let me know._

Banshee-44 looked up from the gun he was inspecting to glance at the Guardian that had handed it to him across the table. The gun was a wreck and would take a while to fix. He looked behind the Warlock to a Hunter who had shown up just after the Warlock had. He had to respect her patience as he had been dealing with the Warlock for a while now.

It had been a long day filled with sales, repairs, and reforging. Just as he was getting ready to pack up and take a break for the night when a particularly stuck up Warlock had shown up and threw a wrench in that plan. The warlock seems to have gotten it in his head that any gun can be taken and repaired in seconds regardless of the damage. He had walked up, handed banshee the gun and said, "I need this cleaned and repaired in twenty minutes." Though it was more like he demanded. Twenty minutes later and Banshee only just got it through the Warlocks head that it would take more time than that for the gun to be operational.

"Well, I suppose if you lack the ability I could stand to wait a bit longer."

What an ass.

Banshee glanced at the patient Hunter. She was standing a ways behind the Warlock – still obviously in line though- looking up at the sky. With an amused smile. At least someone understood what he was going through. Strangely, though, she only seemed vaguely familiar.

Banshee sighed, "Listen, leave it overnight and you can have it by morning." Though he was loath to spend the rest of the night working on this tool's gun, he just wanted to get some rest if the only way to do that was by dealing with this Warlock's bullshit then so be it.

"No, I need this done immediately. This is a rush job."

Banshee stared at the Warlock, almost unable to comprehend what was just said to him. A rush job? He had literally just spent 20 minutes arguing with this guy and it was a rush job. It was too much and Banshee could feel himself his control. He was about to lose it on this slow-minded, long-winded Guardian but before he could a voice piped up

"That's bullshit this is clearly not a rush job."

The warlock spun around to glare at the unwanted opinionated. Banshee looked too, it was the Hunter and she was no longer smiling. The smile had been replaced by the most unamused and unimpressed facial expression Banshee had ever seen on a human. Other than Ikora. It seems she had had enough too.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I call bullshit. If this was a 'rush job' like you say it is then you would have brought it in earlier. Especially considering the state the gun is in. Thus is not a rush job you just waited until the end of the day so you wouldn't have to waiting line?

"I have no such intent. What do you mean by 'state'? It just needs a few measly repairs."

The Hunter stared at the Warlock and slowly blinked as though she too needed a minute to comprehend the Warlock and his lack of intelligence.

The Warlock smirked at the silent Hunter, and immediately turned back to Banshee and smiled the smarmiest smile Banshee had ever seen.

"So let's discuss cost shall we. This probably won't be more than a couple hundred glimmer correct?"

Before Banshee could respond once again the Hunter stepped in for him. She grabbed the Warlock by his shoulder and forcibly turned him around. She stared at him with a blank face for a second then punched him in the nose with enough force to knock him down. Banshee watched as she slowly crouched down next to the prone Warlock. She reached out and lightly placed her hand on his shoulder when he tried to get up.

"This is a person who knows how to intimidate." Banshee thought amusedly He know he should step in and stop this, as it is typically frowned up on for Guardians to get physical with each other, but he was content to sit back and watch. Just this one time. He listened as the hunter spoke to the Warlock in a low growl.

"You are going to shut the hell up and you are going to leave. You may come back tomorrow. Sometime in the afternoon, preferably. You will leave your gun with Banshee for however long he says you need to leave it and you will pay whatever it is that he says you should pay. If you disagree with any part of this and do not follow through with my instructions I will use you for target practice out in the field."

With that Banshee remembered who the Hunter was. He did know her and she had had quite the rep for "friendly fire" incidences. Though most of that was old news and not many reports of her had been heard in while; she seemed to fall off the radar and Banshee couldn't remember the last time he had seen her. She had never killed a fellow Guardian but she had never missed an opportunity to wing 'em if they had ever pissed her off.

"I'd listen to her kid, she doesn't look like the 'joking around' type." Banshee intoned as he walked over to help the Warlock up- It was clear the Hunter wouldn't- and also to make sure the Hunter didn't actually do anything to harm him further. As he got closer the Hunter stood up and backed away from the prone male and Banshee noticed the amused smile was back in place. After Banshee-44 helped the Warlock up he and the Hunter watched him hobble away.

"You know he's going towards the Vanguard. Probably going to report this to Ikora." Banshee noted. What the Hunter did was frowned upon and there would probably be a few repercussions for her but he did appreciate her stepping in when she did otherwise he would have been in her shoes.

"Yup" she nodded, entirely calm. Though she would be, Banshee acknowledge, this certainly wouldn't be the first time she got herself into this kind of trouble.

"Want me to deal with what you need done now before you and the Vanguard get into it?"

She snorted softly and smiled a bit more genuinely, "Nah, that's okay. I'll come back tomorrow too. It's getting pretty late and even exos need a break ever now and again."

With that she too left and Banshee watched as she walked towards the plaza courtyard. He could already tell that the tomorrow was going to be busy too. He needed to get his rest as soon as possible so he packed up his wares as quickly as he could. As he put the last item in storage he saw Ikora Rey storm out of the Vanguard, pausing long enough to scan the plaza, and make a beeline for the Hunter. She would probably talk to him later too. Banshee briefly pondered if the Hunter had feigned her angry or if it was her calm that was feigned. She flipped so easily between the two it was hard to tell. Banshee brushed the thought aside and went to rest.


	2. Ikora Rey

_Sorry for the long wait. I had a midterm today and I have an essay due at the end of the week so I was occupied with prepping for those. I do not own any character and all rights belong to Bungie. Please rat and/or review. I welcome any and all feedback._

-x-

Ikora Rey was pouring over a recent analysis report on energy surges on Mars when she heard a cough from behind her. This cough was followed by an, "Excuse me Ma'am." Dragging her attention away from the report she turned towards the voice and saw that it was one of her Warlocks standing there, though this one had a newly acquired bruise on his face.

"Yes Guardian? What happened?"

The Warlock glanced around at the rest of the Vanguard and in a low voice said, "I would rather prefer to speak to you in private about this."

Ikora felt her eyebrow arch; her curiosity had been piqued. She nodded to the Warlock and led him to the far end of the room that had the window overlooking the outside of the wall. She turned to face the warlock and wasted no time getting to the point.

"What happened?"

"I was attacked by a Hunter. I was trying to get some repairs done by Banshee and it was taking awhile. I guess she didn't feel like waiting."

Ikora frowned, "She? Who was this Hunter?"

"I don't really know. She doesn't seem familiar and I don't remember ever seeing her."

Ikora was mildly surprised that her Warlock didn't know who his attacker was. He was fairly sociable.

"Well, what did she look like?"

"She looked a bit feral. Shaggy, dyed hair. It's red but her roots grew out. Green eyes, pale skin, and a tad on the gaunt side. Her armor was of good quality if a bit of a mish-mash; she was wearing Vermillion Stripe gauntlets, Crest of Alpha Lupi chest armor, Aspriet leg armor, and a nondescript cloak."

Ikora racked her brain trying to match that description to any of the Hunters she knew. It would be a hard task as many Hunters could go into the wild looking one way and come back looking completely different; depending on the trouble they got into and the amount of time they were gone. Many of them would, at some point, have to replace parts of their armor on the fly so that would also make identification problematic. Though the gender did narrow it down.

She could ask Cayde to match the description to a name but a part of her didn't want to involve him just yet. The last time one of his Hunters was called out for attacking a fellow Guardian it had been one of his favorites and he had been far too lenient in his punishment. Much to her chagrin it seemed as though that Hunter didn't get punished at all, they were just sent off planet on a hard mission.

"That Hunter, did she say anything to you?"

"She said that she would use me as target practice out in the field."

Ikora grimaced. She had a sinking suspicion she knew who the assailant was and she could already feel a headache forming.

"Do you know who this Guardian is?" asked the Warlock and Ikora could see the worried expression pass over his face. The fact that she too was having trouble recalling the Hunter was troubling him. The unknown could be frightful even if it was wearing the face of an ally.

"I have an idea of who it is but I don't know for certain."

"How is that possible? Why don't I know this person? Is she recent?"

Ikora frowned, as much as she appreciated her Warlock's inquisitive mind-such a thing was required to be a Warlock in any case- she didn't like that it was directed at her while she didn't have all the answers.

"Well, "she began trying to explain, "If it is who I think it is then she was made into a Guardian shortly after yourself. She has a preference for the wild and that may be why we can't quite recall her."

"So she doesn't show up often. I should still know at least something about her. Who is her fire team?"

Ikora looked at the Warlock thoughtfully and she could feel his frustration. Being so willfully attacked by someone he can't put a name too, someone who should be attacking people anyways. She understood his frustration of course; being a Vanguard leader- the head of the Warlocks no less- meant that she needed to have the ability and knowledge take care of any situations. Admittedly she did not have the knowledge for this situation and it irked her.

"If this is the Hunter that I am thinking of then there isn't much I can say about her nature but I do know that she doesn't have a fire team. Or, rather, she doesn't have a set fire team."

"If you aren't sure of who it is and only have a vague notion to the identity and barely know the person that identity belongs to then how do you know she doesn't have a set fire team?" the Warlock snapped out.

Clearly this Warlock has reached his limit. Ikora bristled at the insubordinate tone but ignored it. "Hunters rarely have permeant fire teams," she replied dryly. "Do you know where this Hunter is now?"

The Warlock looked down in embarrassment, "No, I don't. I came straight here after she assaulted me though the last I saw her she was with Banshee."

"I see. It's late, go get some rest. I will deal with this. Report to me in the morning."

Understanding that he had been dismissed the Warlock turned and swiftly walked from the room. Ikora stared out the window for a minute to ponder the situation. She should tell Cayde one of his Hunters had attacked one of her Warlocks. Despite the division they were all Guardians and that type of thing was frowned upon. He would be better suited to handle this as he would know who the Hunter was. On the other hand, Ikora knew her Warlock; while he may be incredibly good at what he does he is also a known instigator. He might have provoked the Hunter in some way and ran to her.

 _I will talk to the Hunter and get her side of the story_ Ikora resolved, acknowledging that she would probably have to discipline her Warlock in some way. With that final determination she turned and walked form the Vanguard hall, ignoring Cayde as he called out to her. She would fill him in later.


	3. Ikora Rey pt 2

_I said I would get a chapter out before the end of the week. Here it is and I am sorry it took so long. I' feel like there are some continuity errors or some grammar/punctuality issues so please let me know. feel free to rate or review as well._

-x-

As soon as she stepped outside Ikora stopped to take in the evening; the sky was clear, the stars shone, and a gentle breeze danced across her skin. She took a deep breath of the clean air but resisted the urge to stretch out. " _You didn't come out here to shake off the cobwebs,"_ she reminded herself while acknowledging she had been inside for too long.

Turning to her left she saw that Banshee had packed up and gone. " _He must be tired_ ," she thought and decided she would talk to him later. He would have to be really tired to pack it in; even Exos need rest sometimes. The thought that he would try, or was trying, to avoid her never even crossed her mind. She continued to survey the area and as far as she could see there were only four or five people out other than herself: the Cryptarch, the Exo in charge of bounties, and the Exo in charge of mail, and a lone figure at the far end of the plaza. It was the Hunter; Ikora could see the red hair thanks to the light from the Traveler. She was glad she happened upon her and didn't have to ask the others if they had seen the Hunter as she wanted to keep this quiet still. If she started asking questions it would get back to Cayde and give him the wrong impression. Though she still hadn't confirmed that this red-haired hunter was the one she was looking for, she was sure it was.

Ikora walked swiftly towards the figure and getting closer she could see the Hunter was leaning on the rails, with her back to Ikora, staring up at the Traveler. Ikora stopped at the top step and stared down at the other female. It had been awhile since she had been in civilization Ikora noted taking in the exposed roots and shaggy tresses.

"Good evening, Guardian," Ikora said, her tone stern. She wanted to make her intentions clear right off the bat. She didn't want this Hunter to think that she was just out for an evening stroll and decided to stop for a chat. Also, she still couldn't remember the girl's name.

The Hunter straightened and turned to the voice. "Hello Ikora," returned the other woman with a respectful nod.

"It's been a while. What have you been up too?" Ikora politely inquired, hoping to get more information on the Hunter. She could just ask and then get right to the point but she could only imagine how insulting that would be. Being asked what your name was right before you were brought up on assault. She had no problem being outspoken but she would not be rude.

"Oh you know, the usual. Going around, patrolling, and killing things. I've been spending a lot of time on Venus lately. Yourself?"

"Vanguard duties," was all Ikora responded with. "How long have you been out in the field."

"About six months I think."

"Six months? That quite the long absence."

"No, not really. Not for me at least."

The vagueness was becoming a serious irritant to Ikora. "How long will you be staying planet-side?"

"I'm not too sure. A few days at least. Long enough to get supplies, repairs, and visit some friends."

Ikora felt mildly surprised to hear about the possibility of friends. She couldn't think of any being that could be close to this Hunter considering her tendency towards long absences. Maybe she had made some friends on some of the fire teams she rotated through? If she was ever a part of fire teams. Maybe Cayde?

"How long have you been back anyway?"

"A couple of hours I think." The Hunter paused in thought trying to remember the exact time it seemed before giving up and shrugging.

"You've been planet side for 'a couple hours' and you've already gotten into a scuffle. Must be some kind of record." Ikora remarked drily.

The Hunter smiled wolfishly in response, "To be fair, I spent most of that time waiting in line behind your Warlock."

Ikora sighed, it was time to get to the heart of the matter, "what happened."

"Your Warlock received a lesson in manners."

Ikora raised an eyebrow at that and waited for the Hunter to give an explanation.

"He was essentially harassing Banshee. I was waiting behind that guy for quite some time, forty-ish minutes I think- while that was going on. Then he started to haggle with Banshee. Haggle! Can you believe that shit? So I clocked him one."

"Why did you threaten him." The punch alone would have gotten her into trouble, enough to receive a warning, but the threat was a different matter as it implied more nefarious acts. It could be taken to the Speaker.

"So he wouldn't show up and bother Banshee too early in the morning for services."

"So you could be the first instead."

"Also that."

Ikora sighed, "Well, I guess that's all I needed to know."

Looking around the sparsely populated plaza Ikora allowed herself to relax. It was a lovely evening and the situation she thought she had to deal with really wasn't as bad as it could be. She mostly had to have a chat with her Warlock and tell Cayde that he needed to have a chat with one of his Hunters about anger management and proper logic. That was it though, it seemed. The two stood there in silence letting the peaceful sounds of the night wash over them; basking in the radiant glow of the Traveler.

"That Warlock said I attacked him for no reason didn't he?" The Hunter inquired suddenly, ruining the moment.

Ikora gave the Hunter a sidelong glance but remained silent. She didn't know where this Hunter's head was at and didn't know her well enough to hazard a guess.

"I figured he would," the Hunter snorted. "He's lucky I don't shoot people anymore."

Ikora narrowed her eyes ay the Hunter, "you've actually shot at Guardians before."

The Hunter cocked her head, "Yeah, quite a bit. My aim was terrible at the time so I would just end up missing or winging 'em."

"So you shot with the intention to kill. To kill fellow Guardians."

"Yeah, not that it matters though. Or actually means anything."

Ikora was too shocked by the nonchalant admission to speak out so the Hunter just continued, "That was a long time ago though. Back at the beginning. I had trouble adjusting so I acted out in a violent manner."

"Everyone has a rough at the beginning. Don't think you're special and can use that as an excuse to get away with deplorable behavior." Ikora snapped harshly.

The Hunter looked bemused, as though she didn't understand why the mood took a sudden turn. "True, everyone goes through a rough time. I won't deny that and I don't think I'm special in that regard. I explained myself at the hearing."

Ikora stared. Was she at this hearing? The way the Hunter said it implied that she had been; as though she was so blasé about the subject because it had already been addressed and resolved with herself in the vicinity. She had no memory of this though and felt that the only way to get details was to go full steam ahead.

"You think you're special though."

"Yes. No, I explained all of this at the hearing. I just couldn't wrap my head around the concept is all. Once I worked through that it all… got easier. I guess"

Ikora wanted to slap the Hunter across her face. Not just because she was angry and frustrated with the vagueness of the girl but also because of the confused hurt look that had worked itself into the girl's eyes. As if she should know what the girl was talking about; as if she had been around for lengthy conversations regarding the Hunter and her actions. All of this made her slightly rasher than she normally would be.

"What concept." Ikora demanded, closing the distance between the two and getting in the Hunter's face. Ikora immediately saw this was a mistake. The Hunter's energy swiftly changed to something far less inviting. Her eyes, which had been soft like moss, where hard and sharp.

"That I was brought back from the dead. That all – if not most of us- were brought back from the dead to fight someone else's damn war." The Hunter's face looked like it had been carved out of granite and her eyes glinted like emeralds in the light of the Traveler.

"Humanity needed help. Don't be selfish." Ikora reprimanded.

"I'm not being selfish; I'm stating a fact. I shouldn't be doing anything because I should be dead. Same goes for most of us. But no, I was chosen – for some God awful reason- by the Traveler – a thing we still don't fully understand- to fight a damn intergalactic holy war that I had nothing to do with. That most of us had nothing to do with."

"It's not a holy war. It is a battle between light and dark. Life and the destruction of everything."

"Intergalactic grudge match. Whatever, semantics. The point is, the Traveler brought them here. And even if it didn't I was dead and I should still be dead."

Ikora narrowed her eyes at the Hunter; she had not come out here to have a debate about the "what ifs" and "whys" of life and she said as much. "I didn't come out here to get into a debate or argument. Especially about something in the past that we have no control over. Get over it. Focus on the now. I came out here to find out why you assaulted my Warlock and-"

"What's his name?" the Hunter interrupted.

"What."

"What is your warlock's name? So I can apologize."

Ikora took a few steps back and the confrontational energy that had been seeping out of the Hunter vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"And here I thought you wanted it so you knew who you were punching." Ikora all but spite the barbed comment at the Hunter's face. She was frustrated with this Hunter whose unknown identity and vague references left more to be desired/ a part of Ikora wanted to believe that the Hunter was doing it on purpose but her face and demeanor were so guileless that she knew that wasn't true. Which meant it was a lack of knowledge on her own part.

The Hunter smiled mildly, which disappointed Ikora, "I told you, I used to do to do that but then I got a handle on my temper. Besides now my aim is amazing so I would probably end up killing whomever I was shooting at."

"Isn't that the point of shooting at someone."

"Yeah but it wasn't at the time."

"Explain."

"I was a terrible shot. Even when I was shooting to kill someone I would miss."

"So you shot at people with the intent to kill knowing that you would miss."

"Yes."

"So what even was the point." Ikora inhaled deeply and tried all she could to calm her heart rate and fight off her headache. Trying to get answers out of this girl was like pulling teeth.

"Well to improve my aim I would go out and camp somewhere or find an area the enemy heavily patrolled- depending if I was working on my long or short range firing skills- but then I would inevitably get my kills stolen by other, better Guardians. It was to let them know I was there and that I did not appreciate the cherry-picking."

Ikora was once again left staring at the still nameless Hunter as she processed the flawed logic. In a warped way it made sense and she understood it when she put herself in the Hunter's boots; being brought back to life, aliens, space wars, strange tech, robots with "souls", and learning have to shoot and kill with precision when in their last life they had probably never even punched someone in the face. It was enough to unbalance any emotionally frayed individual.

Rather than address that though she instead changed the subject, "My Warlock's name is Marrick."

"Thank you, I'll keep an eye out for him while I'm here. Marrick? Kind of a ridiculous name don't you think?"

"Are you in any position to talk." It was a sloppy last ditch effort to find out the Hunter's name she knew that but she also really didn't want to let Cayde now that she didn't know this Hunter even though she had apparently participated in a disciplinary tribunal because of her.

"Fair enough."

Blast. With that Ikora bid goodnight to the Hunter and started to walk away when she heard the Hunter call out. Rather than walk back she simply turned towards the Hunter.

"I am over it. Death has no meaning to a Guardian as long as they have their Ghost. There are a thousand and one ways to lose or get rid of it and I still have mine. It's just good to remind people."

Ikora didn't respond and the Hunter didn't seem inclined to continue as she turned her back on the Vanguard leader to go back to staring at the Traveler and Ikora made her way back to her station in the Vanguard.

In the end Ikora decided she was too tired. She just wanted to go to sleep and deal with everything in the morning. It was always better to sleep on problems anyway as that way they could be reviewed later with a clear head. She still had to go to Cayde about his Hunter and she knew that if they got into it know she wouldn't get any sleep _and_ she would have to deal with it all right then and there. As it was her Warlock that had been assaulted- and the assailant admitted guilt to the act- she had authority over the matter and she could go to the Speaker and Vanguard with her decision at her own discretion.

Since she had gotten back from her talk with the Hunter Ikora had been staring at the report she had initially been looking at when her Warlock had interrupted her. She wanted to finish it before she went to sleep – and also to keep Cayde from pestering her with questions- but she realized that she wasn't making any progress on it anyways. She head read the same sentence three times and when she got past that she realized she didn't remember what the paragraph was about regardless.

She stood up straight and subtly stretched her back, "I believe that I've done all I can for tonight." She started, drawing the attention of the two males at the table. "I am going to turn in for the remainder of the evening." Receiving a nod from Zavala and a wave from Cayde she turned and left; she took the lift down to her level in the Tower.

She got to her door and entered her passcode and- after entering her room- waited for the gentle whir of the door's gears to quiet before allowing herself to relax and go further into her room. She went to her desk and- waking up her personal communications device- wrote in short and direct sentences detailing what happened and sent it to Cayde. Ikora knew that any message he received from her that wasn't marked "important" would be ignored until at least noon the next day. She was an earlier riser and appreciated the extra time to think.

She changed into her nightclothes and put her robes away in a meticulous manner before slipping under the covers. She asked her ghost to turn off the lights as she relaxed into her plush mattress. In minutes she was asleep.


End file.
